Here’s a leak from the delayed Lost Tapes 2, which Nas addressed last month in his letter to Def Jam. The NY rapper accused his label of cutting corners on the sequel to his acclaimed 2000 compilation of unreleased material from Stillmatic and I Am…, but more recently has said that they are working things out. Lost Tapes 2 would be the prelude to his next major album release, scheduled for early 2011. I think this should be released similar to a mixtape, but there is no doubt that Nas deserves a little more creative freedom.

This track is the result of the Red Bull’s Big Tune Competition, a national tour of producer battles. Frank Dukes, the winner, got to pick his dream MC to work with, who was none other than Iron Man himself. Ghost’s verse is pretty sick and the snare breakbeat and piano loop on the beat is tight. Ghostface’s new album The Apollo Kids drops December 14th on Def Jam. In other Wu-Tang news, evidently there’s a sequel to his 2000 magnumopusSupreme Clientele in the works, so praise the hip hop gods..

Pilot Talk is Curren$y’s follow-up to his underrated 2008 release This Ain’t No Mixtape, released on Dame Dash’s imprint DD172, with distribution from Def Jam. Lyrically and sonically, this album reinforces Curren$y’s place among underground raps’ celebrated MCs. Pilot Talk is his most complete display of his creative lyricism backed by Ski-Beatz’s elaborate instrumentals of layered synths, keyboards, and horns over a sea of percussion and drums. The album contains no samples, which speaks to Ski Beatz’ deftness as a producer and musician. Tracks such as ‘Chilled Coughee,’ evoke a futuristic Stevie Wonder keyboard sound, with Spitta rhyming perfectly in the pocket of Ski Beatz’s crisp horns and laid-back break beats. On ‘The Day,’ produced by Mos Def and Ski Beatz, with Center Edge Territory collaborators Jay Electronica and Mos Def, Spitta raps:

I’m, so cold with it / the potency of the beat is consistent / with the fact that Mos did it / prolific, not shakin’ or stirred / in the presence of those niggas, herbs

Ski Beatz contribution to this album is tremendous, as he helps to create a distinctive sound that embraces Curren$y’s unique flow and rhyme style, and serves to complement to his creative lyricism. This is an alluring aspect of Pilot Talk, where in-studio collaboration seems to be at the heart of this album.